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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSDaunis Fontaine is eighteen, caught between her mother's wealthy Fontaine family in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and her late father's Ojibwe family, the Firekeepers, on nearby Sugar Island, and she has spent her life feeling like she never fully belongs to either side. She has just given up a spot at the University of Michigan to study locally instead, so she can stay close to home and help care for her ailing grandmother and her grieving mother after the recent death of her uncle. Then a shocking act of violence takes the life of her best friend, Lily, and Daunis finds herself pulled into helping investigate a methamphetamine crisis spreading through her hockey team and her tribal community. The book is direct about drug addiction and violence against Native women, but it is also full of the strength of Daunis's community: its humor, its ceremonies, and the ways her family and Elders look out for their own. Readers who want a smart, science-minded narrator working a real mystery from the inside will want to see how far Daunis is willing to go for the people she loves.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Firekeeper's Daughter
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Firekeeper's Daughter. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a hockey player tackle a girl to the pavement when firecrackers pop?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Local boys on skateboards toss them into the road on the way to the powwow, and Jamie throws himself on top of Daunis. He then cleans her bloody knee like a trained first responder, which becomes one of the clues she pieces together later.
- First half
In what book is a tuxedo cat named after the first Native American to walk in space?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Herri is short for Herrington, after Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington, who carried an eagle feather to the International Space Station. She is also a demanding little pest who bites whenever the petting stops.
- First half
In what book does a snoop drag an art book across carpet to erase her own footprints?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Daunis slips into Grant Edwards's basement office and realizes her steps show in the plush carpet like a trail through snow. She fakes the vacuum marks with a book from his shelf and then hides it in the bathroom vanity.
- Second half
In what book does an Elder say, "You're fluent when you dream in the language"?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
The Elders at lunch each offer a different test for fluency, and Seeney Nimkee's answer makes the whole room go quiet with agreement. Daunis thinks about it again later when she catches herself daydreaming an entire future.
- Second half
In what book does a teacher's journal mark one clever student with a smiling light bulb?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Uncle David used initials and symbols instead of names, giving Daunis a heart and one especially sharp student a light bulb with a watermelon slice grin. By ruling out Ryan and Macy, Daunis works out that Light Bulb has to be Travis.
- Near the end
In what book does a squirrel refuse to leave a bedroom while someone searches the closet?
✓ Answer
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
A squirrel climbs in through the screenless window and starts scolding Daunis, then panics when the dog barks. The chaos it causes is what finally lets her slip down the stairs and out of the garage.
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